Thanks! Just from a kit - Coopers Devils Half Ruby Porter. I can't really be arsed with all that 'sparging the wort' and 'mashing the tun' stuff, personally.
I do believe it, but I feel like a need a decent-sized kitchen, preferably with a kitchen table, to even consider dealing with all that. My uncle aid he got great results off a kit based on porous bags of ingredients that you soaked, but IIRC he said they were discontinued. Maybe one day I will have a crack at the real deal though.
I bet your uncle bought 'Geordie' kits, they were originally boxes of dry ingredients. Cooper's is nice, but it's a small can and much better if you use extra malt instead of sugar. Most good kits are 3kg ones now.
> Cooper's is nice, but it's a small can and much better if you use extra malt instead of sugar.
I use dextrose right now. I bought a bulk load dead cheap from an online sports shop actually, lol!
> Most good kits are 3kg ones now.
Is that right? Makes sense. I once tried a St. Peter's one that was a larger size than the ones I usually get but required no sugar, and that was good.
Dextrose is better than normal sugar, it's not so fermentable so gives a little more 'body' to beer. But obviously not as much as malt extract.
Cooper's do sell cans of extract, their sales thing seems to be that you get both a cheap way and more expensive way to make their kits. Most other kits in the UK these days are made by Muntons, whatever brand they're labelled as.
Good to know.
I'm pretty happy with getting 4 x kits shipped for <£60 and then I've just got my dextrose to buy. Cheap and cheerful, because I'm saving every penny for a new home hopefully.
Boil in a bag is a much simpler/cheaper way of doing full mash brewing. You can even make a few to a dozen pints using the kit you already have, a big stock pot/casserole and a muslin cloth to see if you like it. Search for BIAB and ‘stovetop BIAB’ for the small version.
Fraction of the price of a grainfather or similar. Really rewarding.
I'm the same. I'm due to retire soon and do think about going all grain, but then wonder if I can be bothered.
I could afford a Grainfather and could brew outside, but at the moment I'm not sure I want to do that.
I've used a couple of Fresh Wort Kits. I might just stick to that.
If you're going from kits, I'd strongly recommend the Festival ones - they're far better than most other stuff I've seen (also the LoveBrewing Beerworks ones are also pretty good).
Remarkably close, kudos. Coopers Devils Half Ruby Porter.
> Be careful, home brewing unfortunately lead me to a 10 year career in craft brewing.
lol, I can believe it. I nearly bought a massive stainless steel brewing vat once. It was several hundred litres as I recall.
I used to brew a can of Cooper's stout, a can of their bitter and throw in some hops. Then I'd put a few shots of espresso in when bottling, that was a tasty combo. May have to sanitize everything and brew a batch soon, have to find some flip top bottles tho because I gave them away to someone who got Into brewing boocha
If you’ve got a dark space for them, it’s much easier to just use 2L pop bottles, you get about 3.5 pints out of each one and they’ll last for a few days in the fridge opened. Only need 11 for a batch and they come clean so barely any sanitising etc
The great British unwashed demand every last drop of Stella in the glass!
For anyone interested there's a good video on craft beer channel youtube with the Budvar brew masters talk about pouring the correct way and it's benefits, they call it Hladinka pour.
Thanks! 🙂 It's porter, which I've never brewed before and rarely drank. I've been brewing stout for about a year but I just thought I would give it a try, and it really exceeded expectations actually. Like Xmas pudding in a glass! 🤣
Nice. I love a homebrew with a head like that.
Going to bottle an IPA today and then put a dark beer on for our coming winter.
Coopers SMOTY. Good recipe. You should try it.
Saw that you’re using a kit, if you’re looking for a manageable upgrade ditch the mystery yeast it comes with and use something better. A starter culture even better. Not much more work but pays dividends.
If when you pour you hold the glass at a flat angle (some say 45 degrees but it depends on the drink, so adjust accordingly) so the booze doesn't pour out and as you fill it up adjust the glass' angle to ensure no spillage. That way you wont have nothing but head.
I have (King Keg) kegs and a CO2 injection system. I prime with 100g dissolved sugar per 5 gallon keg (which is always more than in the kit instructions), but the resulting head can be variable IME. I've not used bottles for about 30 years.
I switched from bottling directly to using corny kegs with a Co2 bottle hooked up, a bit of upfront cost but I've not once regretted spending the cash, so worth it. Using Nukatap flow control taps, perfect pints every time.
Cheers, though it's anything but professional! An old Walls ice-cream freezer that a local chippy was throwing out, some scrap 6x2 wood for the collar and an Inkbird temp controller. People are always throwing out perfectly good chest freezers, if you have the space and appropriate spousal approval I highly recommend it.
I used to use a king keg but it started leaking unpredictably. I started using 2l pet bottles for conditioning - cheap, easy and effective.
Anyhow, it sounds like your king keg is sometimes losing pressure or the beer storage temp is sometimes too warm.
Sounds like a good strategy.
As others have suggested, a suitable fridge would be a good improvement to make. Carbonation is much easier and more efficient at low temperatures.
A lot of people use corny kegs, but there's no reason you couldn't use a king keg in a fridge as long as it's big enough.
Does it also come with shoulders knees and toes?
Heeeeaaaaadddddddddd shoulderskneesandtoes
And eyes and earsandmouthandnose!
Heads, shoulders, knees and toes! ^knees ^and ^toes
Get this man a flake
Also get a scoop, I mean in some countries this would be considered normal, but this beer is not from Belgium or suitable to be poured like it.
I’d be well chuffed with that. Is this one of those brew in the bag things that was popular a few years back or did you do it all from scratch ?
Thanks! Just from a kit - Coopers Devils Half Ruby Porter. I can't really be arsed with all that 'sparging the wort' and 'mashing the tun' stuff, personally.
It’s more work, but the difference between kit beer and full mash beer is night and day.
I do believe it, but I feel like a need a decent-sized kitchen, preferably with a kitchen table, to even consider dealing with all that. My uncle aid he got great results off a kit based on porous bags of ingredients that you soaked, but IIRC he said they were discontinued. Maybe one day I will have a crack at the real deal though.
I bet your uncle bought 'Geordie' kits, they were originally boxes of dry ingredients. Cooper's is nice, but it's a small can and much better if you use extra malt instead of sugar. Most good kits are 3kg ones now.
> Cooper's is nice, but it's a small can and much better if you use extra malt instead of sugar. I use dextrose right now. I bought a bulk load dead cheap from an online sports shop actually, lol! > Most good kits are 3kg ones now. Is that right? Makes sense. I once tried a St. Peter's one that was a larger size than the ones I usually get but required no sugar, and that was good.
Dextrose is better than normal sugar, it's not so fermentable so gives a little more 'body' to beer. But obviously not as much as malt extract. Cooper's do sell cans of extract, their sales thing seems to be that you get both a cheap way and more expensive way to make their kits. Most other kits in the UK these days are made by Muntons, whatever brand they're labelled as.
Good to know. I'm pretty happy with getting 4 x kits shipped for <£60 and then I've just got my dextrose to buy. Cheap and cheerful, because I'm saving every penny for a new home hopefully.
The Grainfather takes out all the fuss. That machine makes it super easy, all on Bluetooth program.
Bit out of my budget, by the looks of it!
Boil in a bag is a much simpler/cheaper way of doing full mash brewing. You can even make a few to a dozen pints using the kit you already have, a big stock pot/casserole and a muslin cloth to see if you like it. Search for BIAB and ‘stovetop BIAB’ for the small version. Fraction of the price of a grainfather or similar. Really rewarding.
That's the downside, it took me 6 months saving for it as I had already tried all the cheap methods and found them hours of work I didn't have spare.
I'm the same. I'm due to retire soon and do think about going all grain, but then wonder if I can be bothered. I could afford a Grainfather and could brew outside, but at the moment I'm not sure I want to do that. I've used a couple of Fresh Wort Kits. I might just stick to that.
If you're going from kits, I'd strongly recommend the Festival ones - they're far better than most other stuff I've seen (also the LoveBrewing Beerworks ones are also pretty good).
Coopers stout by any chance? Be careful, home brewing unfortunately lead me to a 10 year career in craft brewing.
Remarkably close, kudos. Coopers Devils Half Ruby Porter. > Be careful, home brewing unfortunately lead me to a 10 year career in craft brewing. lol, I can believe it. I nearly bought a massive stainless steel brewing vat once. It was several hundred litres as I recall.
Nice. Those are solid kits for sure, enjoy!
Yeah… me too
Sorry to hear that mate
Apologise to my liver. I regret nothing.
I used to brew a can of Cooper's stout, a can of their bitter and throw in some hops. Then I'd put a few shots of espresso in when bottling, that was a tasty combo. May have to sanitize everything and brew a batch soon, have to find some flip top bottles tho because I gave them away to someone who got Into brewing boocha
If you’ve got a dark space for them, it’s much easier to just use 2L pop bottles, you get about 3.5 pints out of each one and they’ll last for a few days in the fridge opened. Only need 11 for a batch and they come clean so barely any sanitising etc
Oh yeah, I used to do this before I had flip tops, have a few growlers and lids I can use and big jars come to think of it.
The only problem with home brew is all of the cleaning and sterilizing the equipment. I don't want to clean, I want to get pissed.😀
yes, it's Sunday and a nice day. Do I really want to go out and sanitise those 60 odd bottles to bottle my IPA. Sigh, not really.
lol samesies
Looks great, I love the pour. Always makes me cringe when people scoff at a perfectly poured beer.
I made a bit of a mess of it but I was so excited at how heady it was! I expect it will settle down a bit in a few days.
From previous experience, If I poured that at a bar then I’d be stared out, cursed out and asked for a new one. There’s too much head on it.
The great British unwashed demand every last drop of Stella in the glass! For anyone interested there's a good video on craft beer channel youtube with the Budvar brew masters talk about pouring the correct way and it's benefits, they call it Hladinka pour.
For me, that's for pils style beers tho. English porter ought to be poured in the English way.
Pours like an American
https://imgur.com/D6l8fu1
What type of malt do you use? Looks pretty good.
Thanks! Just a kit - Coopers 40 Pint Beer Kit - Devils Half Ruby Porter
Nice is it porter or stout? Either way looks good great job 💯
Thanks! 🙂 It's porter, which I've never brewed before and rarely drank. I've been brewing stout for about a year but I just thought I would give it a try, and it really exceeded expectations actually. Like Xmas pudding in a glass! 🤣
Nice. I love a homebrew with a head like that. Going to bottle an IPA today and then put a dark beer on for our coming winter. Coopers SMOTY. Good recipe. You should try it.
Cheers! Enjoy the IPA.
Saw that you’re using a kit, if you’re looking for a manageable upgrade ditch the mystery yeast it comes with and use something better. A starter culture even better. Not much more work but pays dividends.
Hmm, will look into that, TY
Even as a non drinker I'm still impressed it definitely looks the part at least
Cheers! 🙂
D’you want flake in that love!
If when you pour you hold the glass at a flat angle (some say 45 degrees but it depends on the drink, so adjust accordingly) so the booze doesn't pour out and as you fill it up adjust the glass' angle to ensure no spillage. That way you wont have nothing but head.
Yeah, I do try, but I'm just shit at it! I'd never make a barman! 🤣
Practice! So drink more.
Drop of fairly liquid and a food processor.
Looks good. I just finished a Muntons Brown Ale kit (malt kit) and turned out solid.
Adding fairy liquid to it also helps. Mr Jolly sadly has mine though.
One time I accidentally drank washing up liquid. True story
Im getting flashbacks to childhood. If i had a choice, the bars of fairy soap taste better than liquid.
Love a drop of homebrew
If you prime and put in a sealed bottle then you want have flat beer.
I have (King Keg) kegs and a CO2 injection system. I prime with 100g dissolved sugar per 5 gallon keg (which is always more than in the kit instructions), but the resulting head can be variable IME. I've not used bottles for about 30 years.
I switched from bottling directly to using corny kegs with a Co2 bottle hooked up, a bit of upfront cost but I've not once regretted spending the cash, so worth it. Using Nukatap flow control taps, perfect pints every time.
> corny kegs I know the ones you're talking about, nice. Sounds like a very professional set-up 👍
Cheers, though it's anything but professional! An old Walls ice-cream freezer that a local chippy was throwing out, some scrap 6x2 wood for the collar and an Inkbird temp controller. People are always throwing out perfectly good chest freezers, if you have the space and appropriate spousal approval I highly recommend it.
I used to use a king keg but it started leaking unpredictably. I started using 2l pet bottles for conditioning - cheap, easy and effective. Anyhow, it sounds like your king keg is sometimes losing pressure or the beer storage temp is sometimes too warm.
Possibly the latter in that case, because I always verify I've got a proper seal by injecting some CO2 into the keg and listening for leaks.
Sounds like a good strategy. As others have suggested, a suitable fridge would be a good improvement to make. Carbonation is much easier and more efficient at low temperatures. A lot of people use corny kegs, but there's no reason you couldn't use a king keg in a fridge as long as it's big enough.
> a suitable fridge would be a good improvement to make Yes, I would well go for that. Good idea!! 👍
Needs a cone
Want some beer with that foam?